Until May 4
All hail Macbeth! William Shakespeare’s shortest but by no means least known tragedy is described as “an action play” with a straightforward plot, “fantastic lines” and “characters you can really identify with” by Giles Burton, director of the Stylus Productions presentation that runs through to May 4 at the HK Art Centre’s Shouson Theatre. Evening performances of the Bard of Avon’s Scottish tragedy commence at 7:30pm while the matinees begin at 2pm. Tickets are $260 and $210 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Until May 18
Born in 1899 in the port city of Taicang, Zhu Shilin grew up to become a master filmmaker – first in Shanghai, before
moving during the Second World War to Hong Kong. Considered one of Chinese cinema’s truly world-class auteurs, his filmography spans the three eventful decades from the 1930s to the ’60s. The Epic Times, Simple Stories: The World of Zhu Shilin programme which runs through to May 18 at the HK Film Archive’s Theatre places the spotlight on 29 of the over 100 films he directed, including Garden of Repose (1964) and, among seven rare 1930s works, The Lost Pearl (1937). Tickets are $30 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. For more information (including about individual screening dates and times), go to www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/
filmprog/english/2008zhushilin/2008zs_index.html

Friday, May 2
Back on March 24, the Olympic flame was lit at the site of the ancient Olympics in Greece. This symbol of the Olympic spirit of friendship, peace and equality is due to arrive at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8 after a global journey of 137,000km. The Hong Kong leg of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay is scheduled for Friday, May 2. Commencing at 10am at the HK Cultural Centre’s Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui, the relay will cover 33km, winding through the HKSAR as far west as the Tsing Ma Bridge and up north to Sha Tin before ending at the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wanchai at approximately 6pm. For further information about this historic event, go to www.lcsd.gov.hk/TorchRelay/en/index.php

May 2-4
Published anonymously in the 1590s (but later attributed to a Ming Dynasty scholar named Wu Cheng’en), the 100-chapter Journey to the West is recognized as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. From May 2-4, the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe of China presents a four-act adaptation of this popular story based on the real-life journey of a 7th century Chinese monk to India, the birthplace of Buddha and Buddhism. Word is that tickets for all performances of this spectacular 180 acrobat-strong show at the Sha Tin Town Hall’s auditorium are already sold out. Still, if you can find one, the evening presentations begin at 7:30pm while the May 3 and 4 matinees start at 2:30pm. Tickets are priced from $300 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

May 3-12
Originally written in French by celebrated playwright Yasmina Reza, the internationally and critically acclaimed ‘Art’ has been translated into over 30 languages worldwide. From May 3-12, as part of this year’s Le French May, the HK Repertory Theatre will stage a Cantonese production (with Chinese and English surtitles, except May 6 when the Chinese will be replaced by French surtitles) of this funny but philosophically insightful black comedy that raises questions about art and friendship. The evening shows at the HK City Hall’s Theatre on May 3, 4 and 6-12 will begin at 7:45pm while the matinees on May 4 and 10 will start at 2:45pm. Tickets for the Monday to Thursday performances cost $200, $160 and $120 while those for the Friday to Sunday shows are $220, $180 and $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Monday, May 5
The old and the new will both be on the menu at the Concert of the 2007 HSBC Laureates European Academy of Music on Monday, May 5, as seven young artists from the elite vocal and instrumental coaching centre in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence perform works by classical masters Franz Joseph Haydn, Ralph Vaughan Williams and the enduringly popular Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The HK Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall is the venue for this Le French May musical talent showcase. The performance will commence at 8pm. Tickets are $300 to $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

May 7-10
A seminal drama by Cao Yu, China’s most important dramatist of the 20th century and father of huaju (Chinese spoken drama), Thunderstorm (1933) tells the tragic story of a woman who searches for love and freedom under the oppression of feudal power. In Cao Yu’s own words, “Thunderstorm expresses an emotional longing and it is a symbol of indescribable terror.” Considered a milestone in China’s modern theatrical history, the play will be staged in Cantonese (with English surtitles) by the HK Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA) from May 7-10 at the HKAPA’s Drama Theatre. Evening shows will start at 7:30pm while showtime for the May 10 matinee is 2:30pm. Tickets are $100 and $65 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

May 8-10
It may be based on Goethe’s novella, The Sorrows of the Young Werther, but Werther is an opera in four acts by French composer Jules Massenet with a French libretto by Édouard Blau. Considered Massenet’s masterwork, this opera depicting the romantic joys and passionate suffering of the self-destructive, melancholic Werther will premiere in Hong Kong on May 8 and run to May 10 at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. This production is by the L’Esplanade Opéra Théâtre de Saint Etienne but Opera HK’s Warren Mok sings the title role and American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves also will star. Performances commence at 7:30pm and tickets are $980 to $180 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

May 9 and 10
A quintet of dance pieces makes up Narrative Traces, this season’s dance production from the HK Academy of Performing Arts’ (HKAPA) Academy Dance Ensemble. With intriguing individual titles like Sinking Water, Floating Void/Empty Travel and Crossing, the dance works connect, in a single programme, inspirations from a diversity of sources. Paganini Variations, for instance, is based on the Italian classical music composer and his famous work whereas And the Thunder Sings draws from traditional shamanistic rituals. Performances are at the HKAPA’s Lyric Theatre and showtime is at 8pm on both evenings. Tickets cost $110 and $75 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Monday, May 12
A festive occasion thrice over, the eighth day of the fourth moon (or month) of the Chinese lunar calendar is the birthday of Tam Kung, an immortal Chinese sea deity, and also commemorated by Buddhists in this part of the world as the birthday of the Buddha. This year, May 12 additionally is the day of the climactic Bun Scrambling (or Snatching) Competition component of the annual Cheung Chau bun carnival, a popular local festival some say grew out of a thanksgiving for the end of a plague but others believe stems from a ceremony to placate the ghosts of the victims of pirates. Whatever the reason, the festival’s undisputed centrepiece is at the island’s historic Pak Tai Temple, on whose grounds the enormous bamboo bun towers will stand. For more details about the entire 2008 Bun Carnival in Cheung Chau, go to www.lcsd.gov.hk/specials/bun2008/en/index.php